“Indians never die because our traditions will never die, our customs will never die,” Paul said to KEXP in an explanation of the song. In “Indians Never Die,” Paul quietly expresses her anger by asking you “Do you ever notice what’s surrounds you?” – a plea for us to care more about her people, land, and traditions. The Portland-based musician grew up in the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, a small Indian reservation here in the Puget Sound, where her first experiences with music were strongly tied with her spiritual heritage.

As a self-described “radical indigenous queer feminist,” Paul’s perspective is important. It can’t be categorized as a “breakup” album or a “death” album or even a “political” album, it’s just an exploration of anguish. It’s unfortunate that all these things compounded at once, but because of her predicament the songs that make up Mother of My Children become incredibly accessible for anyone going through any sort of turmoil. At the moment in time of making the record, she was simultaneously mourning the ending of a relationship, the death of her mentor, Geneviève Castrée, and the respect of her country as her loved ones protest at Standing Rock. On Mother of My Children, Black Belt Eagle Scout 's Katherine Paul is in mourning. Dusty Henry Sleeping Lessons by Alien Boyīlack Belt Eagle Scout - Mother of My Children Listening to this album is like living with your own grief, coming to terms with who you are the relationships you keep and finding relief at the end of it all. It’s what makes Sleeping Lessons such a harrowing and cathartic listen. When a melody gets stuck in your head – and pretty much every song on this record will take up space in your brain – it’s going to replay in your head like a mantra, whether you want it to or not. Alien Boy tap into candid, “fuck, I feel that too” emotional cores and do it all with undeniable hooks. Sleeping Lessons did that for me, and not just because I grew up binging on pop-punk and indie rock that was “too cool” to call itself emo. I have a theory that most music critics are searching for that elusive feeling of comfort and understanding that they first got from hearing their favorite bands when they were young. Just from the opening salvo of guitars stretching into the abyss in a swirling rhythm, I could feel the isolation and loneliness in embedded in the ethos of the song. When I first heard “Somewhere Without Me,” the opening track to Alien Boy’s debut LP Sleeping Lessons, I was overwhelmed. Martin Douglas Melancholy Trill II by AJ Suede An auspicious start to Suede’s breakout year. Wolftone’s chiming, ambient bounce serves as the backdrop for Suede and DoNormaal trading melodic verses about grief, self-medication, and raging against the machine on “Refinery.” “Smoke and Candles” finds Suede practicing brujeria long before Darth Sueder II.

His first release of the year, Melancholy Trill II finds the goth-rap legend in the making weaving through a small and impressive collection of onyx-toned beats: The Cure’s “A Forest” is sampled and fitted for a thunderous trap beat on “Expensive Conversation” while traveling the country and multiverses (without Morty Smith as a confidant), keeping distance from others, and wiping off muddy cleats. One of the city’s best rappers since he crashed on Wolftone’s couch and decided to say, Suede released six projects in 2018, all with varying moods and textures but the same startlingly high level of quality. If this were an MVP ballot for Northwest music acts, AJ Suede would be my #1 pick without impunity. Dive into some of the KEXP digital content team’s favorite PNW albums, presented in alphabetical order. These 20 records on this list are far from definitive, but they give a broad view of the eclectic and electric sounds coming out from our own backyard. From Portland indie rockers spearheading a new wave of guitar-driven anthems to Seattle rappers and producers crafting a new sound for the region, you could listen exclusively to Cascadian artists and have your fill of fresh new sounds almost daily. The Pacific Northwest is a consistent source of remarkable new sounds and 2018 kept up with that tradition. That’s true on a national level, but it’s also true regionally. If you disconnect for even a day, it feels like you’ve missed 10 or more albums that people are calling “essential listens.” It’s a good problem to have, sure, but it means it’s nearly impossible to constantly keep up.

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